Rubber boot



June 22 1926.

F. H. MARTIN RUBBER Boo'rv Filed Jan. 15I 1925 Patented June 22, 1926.

Unirse arras Partnr orifice...

FREDERICK I-I, MARTIN, OF AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE B. F. GOODRICI-I CM- PANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

RUBBER BOOT.

Application led January This invention relates to rubber' boots, and more especially to hiplength or wading boots, adapted to be turned or folded down to knee length on occasion, to facilitate walking and avoid discomfort of heat and perspiration. Such boots as heretofore constructed have been subject to rapid wear at the line of fold at the knee because of the rubbing of the trousers, the latter bagging over the top of the folded leg of the boot, especially at the front, with the result that frequently the useful life of the boot has been limited by the leg wearing thin and breaking at the line of fold in advance of deterioration of other portions of the boot.

My chief object is to provide a boot of this character which will better' withstand such wear, so as to have a long period of service. A further object is to provide a boot having' this wear-proof feature without having such .reinforcement at the knee as will unduly thicken or stiifen the portion of the boot which is folded and thus make the folding difficult or produce wrinlrling or excessive straining of the material.

Gf the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my improved boot in folded down condition, a leg portion of the wearers trousers being shown, in its relation thereto, in dot andv dash lines.

Fig. 2 is a vertical, medial section of the upper, front portion of the boot.

Fig. 3 is a similar section showing a modilied construction.

I attain the above-stated objects by providing at the primary line of fold of the leg of the boot a relatively stiff, cufflike shield attached to or built into the wall of the boot and adapted to project upward from the said line of fold when the leg is folded down., the lower portion of the shield being united with the leg and its upper portion free therefrom, so that the line of fold of the wall proper of the boot may come within the vertical limits of the shield without requiring a folding of the latter.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the shield, designated 10, consists of a relatively sti strip of material, which may be rubber, rubberized fabric, or a mixture of rubber and fibrous material,

15, 1925. Serial N0. 2,475.

such as rag stock, the strip being widest at its middle and tapered toward its ends, and extending only from one side of the leg to the other, around the front of the leg, so that at the front, where the wea-r is ordinarily the most severe, the shield rises well above the primary line of fold, 11, holding the trousers leg, 1Q, well above the down-turned boot top, 13.

lVhen the cuff is made as an individual member, as in Figs. l and 2, it is preferably built into the boot by interposing its lower portion between the lower leg portion, 111, and the top leg portion, 13, the portions 1t and 13 being individual members, and vulcanizing the three together, but my invention is not limited to a boot in which the said portions lll and 13 are separately formed.

In the modification shown in Fig. 3 the lower leg portion, 14a, of relatively heavy and stiff construction, has the top portion, 13a, vulcanized to the outer face thereof throughout a circumferential zone which does not extend to the top of the lower leg portion, at least at the front of the boot, so Y that the upper margin of the lower leg portion is adapted to entend upward beyond the line of fold, as a cuff-like projection or shield 102L adapted to function in the same way as the shield 10 of Figs. 1 and 2.

Although serving the purposes stated when the boot is folded down, the shield 1() or l()a permits the leg of the boot readily to be turned back upward to its full hip length, as shown in dotted lines in Figs 2 and 8, only the relatively light and flexible wall of the boot being required to be flexed when the boot is folded down or extended to full length.

While in general I prefer the form of shield shown in Figs. 1 and 2, terminating at the sides of the leg, since it is the front portion of the leg that is most in need of protection against wear, and since a stiff ele ment within the bend of the knee, at the rear, may thus be avoided, I do not wholly limit my claims to a boot in which the shield eatends only around the front portion of the leg.

I claim:

l. A rubber boot including a liexible .leg 2. A rubber boot is defined in eluiln l in portion adapted to be folded down to i'ewhich the top of the shield at the front of duced length, and a self-sustaining shield the leg` is the highest part of the Wall ot .i0 united with the leg of the boot und adapted the folded down boot.

5 to project above the line of fold by reason In Witness whereof I have hereunto set of its own stiffness to protect the latter from my hand this 12th day of January, 1925. Wear. `FREDERICK H. MARTIN. 

